Star Wars Galaxies: Star Wars Galaxies: E3 review

LOS ANGELES - One of the most anticipated PC games scheduled for release this year has to be Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided.

The massive multiplayer online roleplaying game, originally scheduled for release earlier this spring, has already been delayed once, but judging from the line of people trying to get into LucasArts' appointment-only meeting rooms, interest in the game has not been damaged by the wait.

Visitors to the LucasArts booth were treated to an exclusive preview of the game and were given the opportunity to meet with three of the key developers, LucasArts producer Haden Blackman, Kevin O'Hara, an associate producer and community relations manager with Sony Online Entertainment, and Raph Koster.

All three agreed that interest in the game, if anything, has grown even larger. According to LucasArts, the fan community for the game continues to grow unabated and has now reached 475,000 registered members, nearly a 20 percent increase since December 2002.

Despite the huge growth rate, the developers feel that there's always room for more, and everyone's opinion matters.

"There's definitely room to grow," said Blackman. "[Input from the community] is extremely important. I think we have the most involved development team out there. There are fewer things we can do as we get closer to release, but we're always interested in whatever the community has to say."

One of the frequently discussed questions involves non-humanoid races, specifically the Huttese, and whether or not they will become playable races. According to Blackman, it's very likely that whatever new races are added - and at least two will be within a year of release, bringing the total to 10 - will be humanoid, and for a very simple reason.

"A lot of combat relies on changing postures," Blackman said. "Since we've already got things set up for humanoids, the easiest thing would be to make [new races] humanoid."

None of the developers professed a fondmess for any particular race or profession, although O'Hara did profess a fondness for scouts because, he said, it was "the easiest way to really get into the game."

"I frequently restart," said O'Hara. "I've really been trying to play all the professions, so no one can say 'This profession's better because the devs like it.' "

As for races, despite the popularity of both Bothan and Zabrak, O'Hara has a different idea.

"Wookiees are great," O'Hara said, smiling, "especially if you get a really large one as a dancer."

The developers were understandably silent on the matter of a release date, but they did point out that the space expansion was scheduled for approximately 12 months after the initial release. The target population for each server at release is 3,500 players at any one time, which should provide plenty of action - whether social, combat or exploration - for any player, unless, that is, they prefer a more solitary existence. Then again, with 10 planets measuring appoximately 15 kilometers square, a little solitude shouldn't be too hard to find.

Once the demonstration started, the questions were put aside and the guided tour began. O'Hara accompanied members of the media trhrough a bank of computers, each logged in to a different aspect of the game, from character creation through social interaction and even combat.

Character creation is extremely complex. After choosing between Human, Rodian, Wookiee, Twi'lek, Trandoshan, Bothan, Zabrak Calmarian, and determinig the sex of their character, players are given many different ways to customize their characters, including skin color, hairstyle, hair color, height, girth and musculature, as well as individual selections for eyes, ears, nose, mouth and even the jaw line. As a result, it's extremely easy to make a completely unique character, at least in appearance.

As far as professions, players can choose between six basic professions - Scout, Marksman, Entertainer, Artisan, Medic and Brawler - and are given a set of skills reflecting that choice. This section of creation doesn't involve much player involvement, assuring that each new character of a certain profession starts on an even footing.

During the social portion of the demonstration, O'Hara demonstrated one of the newer features that have been added into the game. Players can use the "/find" command to call up a line on the main screen - complete with directional arrows - that will lead them to any fixed location on whatever planet they're currently visiting. For example, on a visit to Mos Eisley, a player could easily locate the bank by typing "/find bank."

O'Hara added that players could add their own waypoints, giving them an easy way to find their way back to good spawn points or mines, and even use the ingame e-mail to send those waypoints to friends, who could then use the command to follow the line and join forces.

Stormtroopers and AT-STs charge a Rebel base.

The combat system, which sounds a bit clunky at first, actually works quite smoothly in the game. The keyboard in SWG is completely customizable and comes with several preset keymaps, including the SWG default, a Everquest-style keymap and a version of a standard first-person shooter keyboard map.

As part of the demonstration, the developers led us on a tour of one the static "dungeons," which was comprised of an Imperial base, complete with stormtroopers and scout walkers. (On an interesting side note, players can obtain stormtrooper armor if they choose to play as a declared Imperial character, which opens them to player vs. player combat, as does playing a declared Rebel. PvP rewards include faction points, which can be used, among other things, to purchase stormtrooper armor.)

I counted about 20 players involved in the battle, most on the rebel side, and one that especially drew our interest. This player was able to move around the battle quite quickly, despite his long brown robes, and the stormtroopers' blaster bolts never seemed to get too close, some even traveling back along their original course, seemingly deflected by what appeared to be a lightsaber.

The LucasArts staff member running the combat demonstration confirmed what we were seeing - an actual test of Jedi abilities in game.

Unfortunately, O'Hara pointed out that training a Jedi is no easy task. Not even the new "/find" command, which calls up a line map on the ground, complete with waypoints, to lead players to any fixed location, can help you find a Jedi temple.

"At least not here," O'Hara said. "This is Tatooine, and the Jedi temples are on Yavin 4."

When asked if we could find a Jedi temple on Yavin 4 using the new feature, O'Hara smiled and changed the subject.

"We can't say when the release date is yet, but we expect to let everyone know in the next few weeks," O'Hara said.

Nearly half-a-million Star Wars fans are eagerly waiting.

Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided
Company: LucasArts/Sony Online Entertainment
Release Date: TBA
Platform: PC CD
Web Site: http://www.starwarsgalaxies.com
ESRB Rating: Teen
Reviewer's Rating: 8/10